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One of those programs is called a Diversion Program. Diversion is being used by numerous courts as a method of deterrence for 1st time and/or nonviolent offenders. This review will evaluate the program and its effect on recidivism rates in the criminal Justice system. Literature Review The Diversion Program is an attempt to divert charges of offenders to alternate programs in the community such as counseling, community service, treatment, and drug rehabilitation. If they complete these programs the criminal charges will be dismissed.
However, if the offender violates any terms of the Diversion Program, the court will prosecute them and sentence them accordingly (Brown, 2013). There was a previous program in the Criminal Justice Department from 1946-1974 called the Brooklyn Plan for Juveniles. If the Juvenile committed a minor offense and the juvenile had a good record, they were referred for a rehabilitative measure. In 1974, another program for adults was introduced (wimpier. Us. Courts. Gob, 2013). In 1978 the Pretrial Services Agency formed an agreement with the U.
S. Attorneys Office and formally established the framework. Diversion is a very influential aspect of the Criminal Justice System. The program is designed to alleviate some of the burden on he correctional system (wry. Inept. Us. Courts. Gob, 2013). The diversion program is designed to divert criminal activity and reduce the recidivism rate of offenders. The criminal Justice system is overcrowded, overwhelmed and very costly to the economy. So if the defendant is looked at as being able to be rehabilitated or “saved”.
The prosecution and the court and not considered a career criminal, which in turn helps the burdened criminal Justice system. The Diversion Program has major objectives. They are designed to accelerate the disposition of cases to reduce activism, deter expenses by giving services to offenders at the lowest cost and reduces prosecutions, give offenders alternate methods to reduce their entry into the correctional system and relieve the cases and give Judicial officers more time for caseloads that have to go to court (wimpier. Courts. Gob, 2013).
Two (2) additional issues are the constitutionality and charges of differential treatment based on race and ethnicity. There have been issues of “disposition without adjudication” and differential treatment of African Americans where they were incarcerated for offenses and Caucasians were offered diversion. Also, studies found that minorities had inadequate family support, school failure and negative peer influence and were not given enough community-based support while in the program or after release Regulating behavior to deter criminal activity and (whim. C]RSI. Gob, 1999). Refunding is the main goal of the criminal Justice system The Lafayette La Diversion Program showed in 2008 that inmates who enroll in diversion program, recidivism rates dropped 20% of inmates who were incarcerated. The study showed 354 in diversion programs were rearrested compared to 55. % inmates who were over deferment shows evidence that imprisonment makes it hard for offenders to adjust to life after prison, especially long term sentences which causes them to refined.
Studies indicate that administering the correct kind of intervention to offenders in a way they understand will reduce offending anywhere from 5 to 50% (EUNICE, 2013). The data for the review will be collected from criminal Justice courts and agencies throughout the United States. Online resources from the Department of Juvenile justice, the pretrial services division, and the United States department of Justice. Various studies of drug courts, diversion courts, and community resources will be evaluated for their efficiency and effects on offenders who attend the program versus offenders who are incarcerated.
Journal articles with studies on ethical treatment and problems that offenders experience while attending the program and support after leaving the program will be evaluated there is limited information provided by offenders which will pose some problems with the data that will be collected. Most of the statistical information located is provided by agencies that implemented the aerogram. The most effective measurement that can be conducted is on the recidivism rates of the offenders who attended the Diversion Program against those offenders who were incarcerated on similar offenses without a diversion option.
These statistics will be obtained from the Department of Justice, Journal articles, and studies by individual diversion programs and repeat offenders in their programs. Expected Outcome The expected outcome of an analysis on the Diversion alternative system is to improve the recidivism rates among offenders of nonviolent non habitual felony offenders. Another overall goal is to reduce the amount of offenders in the Justice system to alleviate the financial burden on the Justice department.
A grant to evaluate the system for inconsistencies and flaws could improve the recidivism rate and reduce the cost of supporting first time or nonviolent offenders by our tax payers. These funds could be used to rehabilitate which has been shown to be less of a financial burden on taxpayers than supporting a lifetime criminal. The results could show the decrease in the cost and show criminal Justice courts and individual immunity the benefit of adopting diversion programs and implementing more rehabilitative programs to deter these criminals from Refunding. Brown, C. Avoiding a Criminal Record- What is Diversion? /2006 http:// Centralizes. Competent=Charles_Brown Brown,] The Advocate: La. Diversion programs trim recidivism rates 8-1-2008 Detention Diversion Advocacy: An Evaluation: Juvenile Justice Bulletin September 1999 HTTPS://www. Incurs. Gob/HTML/Judd/9909-3/diva. HTML Pretrial Services Agency: Eastern District of Michigan Diversion copyright 2011: retrieved 7/2013 http://www. Inept. Courts. Ova/pages/diversion_program. CFML Toolkit on Diversion and Alternatives to Detention: Public Safety and Recidivism, retrieved 7/2013 http://www. Eunice. Org/tad/index_55674. HTML Timeline The timeline will be monitored over a 3 year period.
The crimes evaluated will be crimes that normally for 1st time offenders are given sentences of 5 (five) years or less but are ordered to attend a diversion program or serve a maximum of one year in prison and the rest on probation. The offenders that reside where there is no diversion program will initially be out on bond or sitting incarcerated until court. A trial for most of these types of offenses normally occurs within 1 (one) year of the crime committed Month 1: compile a group of 250 offenders through a recognized Justice system that uses diversion programs as an alternative sentence.
Month 2: Combine an alternate study group of 25 offenders that do not use diversion programs as an alternative sentencing option. Month 3-6: Compile data on a group of 25 offenders that were offered alternative sentencing. Collect data on the type of diversion program they were offered and the guidelines of that diversion program. Speak with various agencies, lawyers, and probation officers to monitor offender for a or decided to go through a trial and complete their sentence. Month 13-24: Most offenders who will violate after they complete their sentence will do something within 3 (three)-6 (six) months of their release date.
Data will be collected from the 2 (two) different sentencing types over this time to measure the recidivism rates on offenders who went through diversion and those who did not. Month 24-36: The department of Justice cites that other diversion programs and cites that do not will ant this information to determine if the system is working and if which systems are the most successful and need to be adopted to relieve the strain, overcrowding, and financial burden on the communities no matter how big or small.
Budget The cost of the study will consist of a laptop to store the information collected for the study with a backup hard drive. Gas reimbursement will be needed for independent statistician to retrieve the information from court, probation officers and correctional facilities. A salary will need to be provided to the statistician that is collecting the information for the 3 (three) year period. A budget for a study of this magnitude will require the support of the federal government and different city municipalities.
The project will need to be funded by grants from the federal and state governments that are designed to help reduce the financial strain on the Justice system. Volunteers from students for college credit or law school interns is an idea to use to acquire the help needed and give a legal perspective on the issue of Diversion programs and their success or failure. Data Analysis In reviewing the data that was collected in current diversion programs do have a costive impact on the Criminal Justice System.
The data was collected from interviews, questionnaires, articles and online resources. The data was summarized and compared to explore similarities and differences between various diversion programs. Data analysis began at the time the diversion program offered in court as alternative sentence. The offenders were placed in a diversion program and monitored by probation officers. Data on recidivism rates of the offenders. Data on recidivism rates of the offenders that went to diversion versus the offenders who revered from 0-12 months will be compared.
This data will tell us if the diversion program had a positive, negative or no effect on offenders committing additional crimes. The data collected showed that recidivism rates were reduced among offenders that entered some type of diversion program instead of being incarcerated. The data discussed the different types of diversion programs that are available. The program is explained in detail. The research discusses when the program was started and the objectives desired. In conclusion, my policy evaluation revealed that Diversion is one of the best availabilities alternative sentencing programs currently available.
The overall program has the best interest of the offender and system in mind. In individual studies of communities research has shown that recidivism rates are lower among offenders that completed a diversion up to a year program over those that went to jail for up to 1 (one) year. Future evaluations that are needed in Diversion are constitutional issues and differential treatment. The system has to be fair for all ages. Abstract The following evaluation is of the use of Diversion programs in the criminal Justice yester throughout the United States.
Diversion is an alternative sentence offered to some offenders that show a strong possibility to be rehabilitated and not enter the criminal Justice system. The goal of diversion is to reduce the recidivism rates of certain offenders and keep them from increasing the financial burden on the Department of Criminal Justice down to the taxpayers. The research will show if this program is successful or not. This will determine if funding should continue to these different diversion programs from our governments federal to local.